Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-02-06
THE ARTICULATION.
The Great Waterfall of norway Ez-
pIored aud Enjoyed.
lsL Louis Globo-Dem0rrsLl


one Mt Odde. there is the long drive be-
yond the Sandyand, where the cliffs are
striped with waterfalls all the way and
the road takes one through the spray
and mist Of many of them, and be-
yond all there is the Skjaeggedalfoss.
The Skiaeggedalfoss is the great water
fall Of Norway, but it is as difficult to
reach it as 10 pronounce its name.
II has taken us all our weeks IN Nor
way to pronounce the warning syl-
tables and to Toe able to spell the name
when suddenly called upon, but we
meeklv abandoned going to 1t when
the route was described, as 1t was an al
formation of row-boating and mountain
climbing, and an English girl with foot
and hrogans like mans said that II
had not paid her to rise at 4 o'clock IN
the morning and trudge oil day over
wild boulders. The Skjaegg edalfoss
only tumbles 80 feet anyhow, and Is ut
It's best when fed by the melting SHOWS
of May. 1t is poor prize to attain by
such efforts when one has seen the Dlg
Yosemite in perfection, although we sat
silent one day while some Englishmen
across the dinner-table compared the
SkiaegQodalfoss with the Schaffhausen
Fails of the Rhine. and one of them IN
APPLY said:
ooh but You know there Is some
waterfall in the west of America higher
than the Skjaeggedalfoss-not Niagara,
though.
"Where IS it?" asked his com
panion.
"In America, responded the oracle.
"Oh, that doesn't count, You know,
said the other Englishman this Is the
highest fall in Europe" and the accent
on the word Europe just swept all
America off the globe and shut the door
on it.
There was worse Englishman,
though, who began the conversation at
another dinner-table by asking the de-
mure-looking Young lady of our party
where she WIS going next. A genius
was planning our route and marking
out n far-reaching schedule of eXcur-
sions. drives, and steamboat cOnnec-
tons, aud the Englishman could not
understand how we could manage
some of the connections. He pOred
over timetable to inform her
when certain steamer would start,
and vOuchsafed information that we had
made sure of some days earlier. He did
not know that the demure young wo-
man carried an unquenchable hatred OF
the English under her innocent face,
and il amused me beyond everything to
see how the English always fell to her
lot. chose her to converse with, and
made all their extraordinary remarks to
her. This Englishman began cross,
questioning her as to where she had
been and what she had seen, with a
mind solely bent on reproying an Amerl-
can.
"When You were at Vosse NaugeI
did You see the falls?" he asked
benignly. Now, there are no falls al
Vosse Naugen, but our little American
was a trihe bcwildercd, and looked
around Tor help, and inquired OF us,
Did WEI" None of us could trust
ourselves to speak, but shook our heads
and kept serious faces.
Probably not" said the English
man, more complacently than ever, and
when he learned all about our route
through the rest of the Hardanger, and
that We would not get off at Ulvik tC
climb for four hours to see one small
waterfall, he turned, and with crushing
, emphasis, said 81 suppose YOU vii
! look at the ford.
1t was of this same demure girl thai
an Englishman had asked only the day
before Where are the Rocky Noun
tains, anyhow? Don't they separate
Canada from the United States some
where?
And on another day Britisher Sc
lected her out of eight Americans in
row to ask in all seriousness "ls I
true that in America the houses arr
built on wheels and that You move
/ them around 2"
She had been baitcd by the Englisl
all that day, so YEARLY responded
cob. YES. They are all built that way
especially in New York. We Away
90 down to the seashore in our hous'
every summer.
The Briton looked bewildered whel
We all smiled, and he said, half apollo
getically Upon my word, I've beer
told so by some fellows who had beer
/ there
Wandering in the Hardanger ford !
an endless enjoyment, aud for all tn
siabs of the Englshmen who wanted
Ms inst TO "look at it. " we found tina
we were doing it more leisurely thai
other people, and giving up 50 mucl
| time TO II that summer would he leavln;
us before We were ready to leave TN
| fords and drive across country IN car
roles. From Eide at the end OF tn
Craven ford We had one last look Il
the lovely Hardauger, and drove NJ
past an enchanting lake, the Craven
sand, 20 the valley where the Skier
yefoss tumbles and roars. Alonl
| the Gravensand the road CHING
TO the base of the cliffs that rs
abruptly from the water, and in ON
place the road is blasted in under tn
overwhelming rock, and shed-roof car
ries off the spray and side stream of
little fall that there takes leap into tn
lake. As the valley narrows the TIRE
mendous walls grow III height rs the,
approach under the narrow amphl
theatre It the end, the Skjeryeioss take
its first .ong plunge and then dashe
/ down IL snowy cataractS and swli
stream 10 the lake beyond. The post
road that climbs and clings t
the walls of the narrow vale
crosses the falling stream by ston
arches, and finally reaches the highe
valley beyond, is a marvel of engineer
ing skill, and but for seeing the wonder
full zigzaes and windings one could nc
believe It possible to lead highwa,
along that nearly perpendicular wal
The valley was full of pictnresquenes
on the ideal, SHINY, summer day tina
We took a second turn through 1t, an
in every bayfield, and all along tn
roadside were groups OF the country
people at work with scythes and grass
| hooks and rakes. The women gave tn
proper touch to these bucolic picture
| by wearing the white blouses and ga
| red or green bodices OF the old Hal
danger costume, and each group was
hotter model for painter than the las